The Irritation in the Anthropologist
by Some1tookmyname
Summary: Booth is too wrapped up in baseball playoffs to pay attention to his partner. Can she drag his eyes away from the television?


_**Author's Note:** Well, I lost a bet. I really, really thought the Texas Rangers would deliver the World Series this year. And then they really, really didn't. Jenlovesbones was rooting for the Cardinals. A bet was made, officiated by the lovely Ceeray. Whichever of us supported the losing team would have to write a fic in which either Booth or Brennan supported the winning team and just to make things extra fun? There had to be a gnome._

_If you hate this story it's all Ceeray's fault. And Jenlovesbones. But mostly you should blame the Rangers. Because I totally blame them. _

_If you love it? I'll take credit for that. I refuse to credit the Cardinals with anything. They already won the World Series. They don't need anything else._

_Beta props to Baileyjane and JMHaughey for their sharp eyes and excellent suggestions._

* * *

><p>All day long the one thought that drove Brennan through her work was that Friday night was date night.<p>

Usually, during work she wasn't that single-minded about after work or about what was going to happen after work. Even though she was a partner (in every way) and a mother, she still found it quite easy to lose herself in her profession.

But it had been a long week. There were no open cases for she and Booth, so she'd been doing what she was originally hired by the Jeffersonian to do: identify and study ancient remains. She'd been leaving in the still dark mornings and returning home in the already dark evenings.

And while she still adored her career, she found that she missed her partner during these work weeks without him.

Especially this week.

She had always known that Booth was a sports lover. She had once made the mistake of assuming that his interest did not lie beyond teams from Philadelphia.

She'd been so very wrong. She'd learned quickly he loved many teams in many sports and she had lost many hours to Booth in front of the television, swearing whatever game he was watching was almost over.

This week it was the World Series. Some team she couldn't remember and the St. Louis Cardinals, of which he claimed to be a fan.

Enough of a fan that the garden gnome in the front yard was wearing a Cardinals jersey when she pulled up to the house.

She rolled her eyes as she guided the car into the garage. Booth had insisted on negotiating that gnome into the sale of the house when they bought it and she had wanted that particular house badly enough that she was willing to live with the gnome.

But the jersey was a new addition.

All week long he'd been glued to the television. He'd been jumping and cheering and spending an inordinate amount of time hollering at the television. He'd barely left the game for dinner and one night she snapped at him when he'd made it seem like putting the baby to bed was a chore.

"Booth! I have been patient, but this is absurd. I bathed her and diapered her and read to her. All you have to do is tuck her in!"

"Next commercial, Bones. I promise."

"I will do it myself." She'd huffed. "Say goodnight to Daddy, Hadley."

The baby waved and Booth had guiltily torn himself away from the game to pepper exaggerated smooches on his daughter's face and belly. "Goodnight, Baby." He smiled as she giggled in her mother's arms.

But he still let Brennan put Hadley in bed.

"It's the World Series, Bones." He'd tried to justify when she returned to glare at him.

"I don't care. She is your child, too, Booth and you always tuck her in. It's part of her routine. She is more important than baseball. It's just a game!"

"I took her to daycare and picked her up. I took her to the park this afternoon. It's not like I haven't spent time with her." His eyes never left the screen.

That had not gone over well and Brennan had gone to bed angry. It wasn't just that he wasn't sticking to the usual routine for Hadley. He also wasn't spending any time with _her _and if she were being totally honest, that's what was bothering her the most.

There was a time when Brennan would have found the idea that she could miss someone she saw everyday ridiculous, but now she knew better. She'd been missing him all week. Between no cases and televised baseball, she simply hadn't spent any meaningful time with him.

Now, finally, it was Friday. Their turn for date night. Hadley had gone home for the night with the Hodgins family and she and Booth would have the night to themselves. He had been jumping up and down the night before about his team winning and being the champions so she knew she would not have to contend with baseball.

Except when she went through the door and up the stairs to the game room she heard the unmistakable sound of sports on TV.

And there he was. Glued to the TV, pajama pants and a Cardinals T-shirt on. Not date night attire.

"Hey Bones." Despite the distraction of the game, he could still feel that she had walked into the room.

"I…I thought this was over."

"I thought so too, but after you went to bed last night the other team loaded the bases and hit a homerun. We lost."

"_We_ did not lose anything. Though it does appear that _I_ have lost date night."

"Oh. Right. It's our turn to be kidless." Booth had forgotten all about it.

"It's just a game, Booth!" She reiterated her argument from earlier in the week.

"It's game seven. For the whole enchilada. I can't not watch this." He looked up and her disappointment must have been evident because he softened a bit. "It's not going to be a long game tonight, Bones. We're killing the other team. It'll be over by ten and then we can maybe go out, catch a late movie?"

He looked so much like a hopeful little boy that she softened a bit as well. "I'm going to go change my clothes. Perhaps I can order a pizza to be delivered and then I can watch with you?"

She hated sports on TV and he knew it. He also knew she was trying and quite frankly he knew that he _hadn't_ tried very hard this week. "That would be great." He smiled genuinely and she turned on her heel and left the game room, not at all satisfied with this solution, but willing to accept what little she could get. She was too tired after the long week to fight a losing battle.

She went downstairs and retrieved the coupon from the pizza place and called in an order. She went upstairs and changed into some yoga pants and a tank top. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and then joined Booth on the couch.

"You want to explain this to me?" she asked, because otherwise she really had no idea what she was watching.

"Uh, sure." So he did and she tried hard to keep her eyes from glazing over has he described the finer points of baseball in general and this game, in particular.

She was saved by the bell. "Pizza's here! I'll get it." She jumped off the couch and practically sprinted out of the room, making Booth laugh. He knew she didn't care about baseball, but he loved her for trying.

Brennan sped down the stairs, grabbed her wallet and opened the front door to the pizza delivery kid. Tipping him nicely, she retrieved the box from him and was about to shut the door when she spied something that gave her an idea. She set the box down on the end table and went outside to retrieve the jersey the ugly gnome was wearing.

In the front hall she shimmied out of her comfy clothes and pulled on the jersey. It skimmed her thighs, covering just enough to leave room for Booth's imagination. She also unfastened a few buttons before she took the pizza upstairs.

She set it on the coffee table in front of Booth, making sure she crossed right in front of the screen as she sang out "I'll get some plates."

No reaction.

She went downstairs, unbuttoned another button and brought back the plates, crossing his line of vision again.

Nothing.

"You want a beer?" she tried.

"Yeah. That'd be great, Bones." His eyes remained glued to the game.

With a soft sigh she went back down and grabbed 2 beers from the refrigerator.

Catching her reflection in a hallway mirror, she quickly pulled out her ponytail and shook out her hair and headed back up the stairs.

Rounding the couch she crossed his line of vision one last time to set down his beer. When he didn't even blink she was completely insulted. She'd never exactly been skilled at seduction, but how could he not notice?

Feeling defeated and fairly angry she opened the pizza box to take a piece from her half when she felt a strong arm snake around her and pull her to the couch. "What the hell are you wearing?" he growled in her ear as she sat in his lap.

"What? This? " She smiled, her anger gone now. "A little gnome gave it to me." She turned to straddle him. "Do you like it?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, Bones. I like it."

She bent down a bit to kiss him and his hands automatically moved down to cup her behind.

"Whoa!" His eyebrows shot up when he didn't come into contact with any panties. "I guess you were really feeling neglected this week."

"Maybe a little." She wriggled in his lap and felt him grow hard beneath her. "I've missed you," she confessed in a whisper as he trailed kisses from her collarbone to her ear.

"I'm sorry." He offered between kisses. "I shouldn't get so caught up in sports."

"Oh!" She gasped as he nibbled her ear. "It's…oh...it's okay." She was quickly forgetting her irritation from the rest of the week.

"No, it's not," his deft fingers were now working on the remaining jersey buttons. "But I'll make it up to you."

"Oh yeah?" She was breathless as his tongue swept her earlobe.

"Yeah." And suddenly he stopped what he was doing, picked up the remote, hit the power button and then tossed the remote behind him. Pushing the jersey off her shoulders, he leaned in to taste her breasts.

"But…" she arched her back, pushing herself towards him, "…what about the World Series?"

"It's just a game, Bones." He grinned and proceeded to set about showing her _exactly_ how he planned on making it up to her.

~End~

_Ease this loser's soul and tell me what you think._


End file.
